Timothy Geithner confirmed as US treasury secretary

The US senate has confirmed Timothy Geithner, the former head of the New York
City Federal Reserve branch, as the new treasury secretary in the Obama
administration.

12:14AM GMT 27 Jan 2009

The vote, which went 60 to 34 in Mr Geithner's favour, puts him at the helm of Mr Obama's plan to rescue the economy.

But the confirmation was not without controversey. Some senators were concerned that Mr Geithner, who will oversee the government's tax collecting agency, did not pay all of his taxes until he had been nominated to the president's cabinet.

Mr Geithner said the oversight was unintentional and has settled his $34,000 overdue tax bill. He apologised for the errors, calling them "careless".

His supporters said the nation cannot afford to wait for Mr Obama to search for a new Treasury chief.

He is now expected to unveil reforms to the country's $700 billion financial bailout program to provide more support for housing and credit markets, and possibly a new effort to absorb troubled assets from banks.

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"I would rather have a battle hardened veteran at the helm who knows the shoals and whirlpools than a neophyte who has to wade into these churning waters for the first time," Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah said during debate on the nomination.

Mr Geithner, who has been president of the New York Federal Reserve Bank since 2003, joins a new administration already deeply involved in pushing a package of spending and tax-cuts through Congress to lift the recession-mired economy.